Restoration

The primary goal of this project is to evaluate the conditions of important wetland bird habitats and develop restoration plans for those that need it most. Coastal wetlands in the US Virgin Islands have been impacted for decades by agriculture, land development, pollution and other human activities. Our coastlines were also severely damaged by Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017. Sedimentation, poor water quality, and damaged mangrove forests are just a few of the factors that result in poor quality habitat for coastal birds and other wildlife.

Choosing Sites

Horsley Witten and Geographic Consulting used 5 historic, land-cover maps to identify where wetlands exist in the US Virgin Islands. We identified over 118 individual wetlands across the territory; most of them are mangrove forests. We consulted with the St Croix Environmental Association, other bird experts and wetland ecologists to identify a subset of these wetlands that were most significant for birds. We narrowed the list to 39, which appear below in Table 1.

UNIQUE ID	ISLAND	NAME	ACRES
1	St. Croix	Rainbow	10.15
2	St. Croix	Cane Garden	26.16
3	St. Croix	Ha Penney	8.82
4	St. Croix	Spring Bay	0.97
5	St. Croix	Great Pond	150.59
6	St. Croix	Robin Bay	20.24
7	St. Croix	Teague Bay	6.80
8	St. Croix	Mar Caribe	2.15
9	St. Croix	Coakley East	24.45
10	St. Croix	Coakley West	5.07
11	St. Croix	Southgate Pond & Chenay Bay	67.29
12	St. Croix	Altona Lagoon	207.32
13	St. Croix	Salt River Bay	258.50
14	St. Croix	Rust Opt Twist	38.88
15	St. Croix	Long Point	46.10
16	St. Croix	Long Point East Breids Bay	4.63
17	St. Croix	Airport	105.86
18	St. Croix	Krause Lagoon West	313.22
19	St. Croix	Krause Lagoon East	327.06
20	St. Croix	Sandy Point	303.06
21	St. Croix	Manchenil Bay	4.79

22	St. Thomas	Magens Bay	38.96
23	St. Thomas	Mandahl Bay	20.29
24	St. Thomas	Brewers Bay	17.8
25	St. Thomas	Perseverance Bay	27.94
26	St. Thomas	Muller Bay	11.11
27	St. Thomas	Vessup Bay	32.55
28	St. Thomas	Cabrita by the Sea	2.29
29	St. Thomas	Smith Bay - Hartman	33.32
30	St. Thomas	Smith Bay - Lindquist	11.96
31	St. Thomas	STEER	675.29
32	St. Thomas	Red Hook Salt Pond	11.60
33	St. Thomas	Fortuna Bay	5.50
34	St. Thomas	Coculus Bay	5.20
34	St. Thomas	Hull Bay	1.97
36	St. Thomas	Flamingo Pond	12.97
37	St. Thomas	Revenge Pond	5.10
38	St. Thomas	Limestone Pond	6.66
39	St. Thomas	Compass	53.23
		TOTAL ACRES:	2905.83
		TOTAL km2:	11.76

Site Assessments

In early 2022 we began evaluating these sites in the field in a variety of ways. The goals were to measure bird diversity and density, identify the source and level of damage to each mangrove forest, gauge the level of natural forest regeneration, and identify the sites that would benefit from a restoration plan. Engineers and stormwater specialists from HW evaluated roads, storm drains, culverts and other.

Restoration Plans

We developed bird habitat restoration concepts for several individual sites that considered all of the factors influencing it. For example, a site with high forest damage and low natural regeneration was considered a better candidate for restoration. The restoration plans also considered sea level rise predictions and identified where mangroves can “retreat” to when that happens. Stormwater structures and sources of sediment, such as dirt roads were also addressed.

Partners

Contact

Send us an email with your questions, comments, and photos

Brian Daley, Ph.D., Senior Ecologist
Horsley Witten Group, Inc., Geographic Consulting

Nicole Angeli, Ph.D., Director of Fish and Wildlife
U.S. Virgin Islands Dept. of Planning and Natural Resources

Jennifer Valiulis, Director
St. Croix Environmental Association

Lisa Sorenson, Ph.D., Executive Director
Birds Caribbean